15. Some people are like the seeds that fall along the path; as soon as they hear the message, Satan comes and takes it away.
16. Other people are like the seeds that fall on rocky ground. As soon as they hear the message, they receive it gladly.
17. But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once.
18. Other people are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the ones who hear the message,
19. but the worries about this life, the love for riches, and all other kinds of desires crowd in and choke the message, and they don't bear fruit.
20. But other people are like the seeds sown in good soil. They hear the message, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty, and some 100.”
21. Jesus continued, “Does anyone ever bring in a lamp and put it under a bowl or under the bed? Doesn't he put it on the lampstand?
22. Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be uncovered.
23. Listen, then, if you have ears!”
24. He also said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear! The same rules you use to judge others will be used by God to judge you — but with even greater severity.
25. Those who have something will be given more, and those who have nothing will have taken away from them even the little they have.”
26. Jesus went on to say, “The Kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed in his field.
27. He sleeps at night, is up and about during the day, and all the while the seeds are sprouting and growing. Yet he does not know how it happens.
28. The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit; first the tender stalk appears, then the ear, and finally the ear full of corn.
29. When the corn is ripe, the man starts cutting it with his sickle, because harvest time has come.
30. “What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?” asked Jesus. “What parable shall we use to explain it?
31. It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground.
32. After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all plants. It puts out such large branches that the birds come and make their nests in its shade.”
33. Jesus preached his message to the people, using many other parables like these; he told them as much as they could understand.